The Bible

 

Postanak 1

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1 U početku stvori Bog nebo i zemlju.

2 A zemlja beše bez obličja i pusta, i beše tama nad bezdanom; i duh Božji dizaše se nad vodom.

3 I reče Bog: Neka bude svetlost. I bi svetlost.

4 I vide Bog svetlost da je dobra; i rastavi Bog svetlost od tame.

5 I svetlost nazva Bog dan, a tamu nazva noć. I bi veče i bi jutro, dan prvi.

6 Potom reče Bog: Neka bude svod posred vode, da rastavlja vodu od vode.

7 I stvori Bog svod, i rastavi vodu pod svodom od vode nad svodom; i bi tako.

8 A svod nazva Bog nebo. I bi veče i bi jutro, dan drugi.

9 Potom reče Bog: Neka se sabere voda što je pod nebom na jedno mesto, i neka se pokaže suvo. I bi tako.

10 I suvo nazva Bog zemlja, a zborišta vodena nazva mora; i vide Bog da je dobro.

11 Opet reče Bog: Neka pusti zemlja iz sebe travu, bilje, što nosi seme, i drvo rodno, koje rađa rod po svojim vrstama, u kome će biti seme njegovo na zemlji. I bi tako.

12 I pusti zemlja iz sebe travu, bilje, što nosi seme po svojim vrstama, i drvo, koje rađa rod, u kome je seme njegovo po njegovim vrstama. I vide Bog da je dobro.

13 I bi veče i bi jutro, dan treći.

14 Potom reče Bog: Neka budu videla na svodu nebeskom, da dele dan i noć, da budu znaci vremenima i danima i godinama;

15 I neka svetle na svodu nebeskom, da obasjavaju zemlju. I bi tako.

16 I stvori Bog dva videla velika: videlo veće da upravlja danom, i videlo manje da upravlja noću, i zvezde.

17 I postavi ih Bog na svodu nebeskom da obasjavaju zemlju.

18 I da upravljaju danom i noću, i da dele svetlost od tame. I vide Bog da je dobro.

19 I bi veče i bi jutro, dan četvrti.

20 Potom reče Bog: Neka vrve po vodi žive duše, i ptice neka lete iznad zemlje pod svod nebeski.

21 I stvori Bog kitove velike i sve žive duše što se miču, što provrveše po vodi po vrstama svojim, i sve ptice krilate po vrstama njihovim. I vide Bog da je dobro;

22 I blagoslovi ih Bog govoreći: Rađajte se i množite se, i napunite vodu po morima, i ptice neka se množe na zemlji.

23 I bi veče i bi jutro, dan peti.

24 Potom reče Bog: Neka zemlja pusti iz sebe duše žive po vrstama njihovim, stoku i sitne životinje i zveri zemaljske po vrstama njihovim. I bi tako.

25 I stvori Bog zveri zemaljske po vrstama njihovim, i stoku po vrstama njenim, i sve sitne životinje na zemlji po vrstama njihovim. I vide Bog da je dobro.

26 Potom reče Bog: Da načinimo čoveka po svom obličju, kao što smo mi, koji će biti gospodar od riba morskih i od ptica nebeskih i od stoke i od cele zemlje i od svih životinja što se miču po zemlji.

27 I stvori Bog čoveka po obličju svom, po obličju Božjem stvori ga; muško i žensko stvori ih.

28 I blagoslovi ih Bog, i reče im Bog: Rađajte se i množite se, i napunite zemlju, i vladajte njom, i budite gospodari od riba morskih i od ptica nebeskih i od svih zveri što se miče po zemlji.

29 I još reče Bog: Evo, dao sam vam sve bilje što nosi seme po svoj zemlji, i sva drveta rodna koja nose seme; to će vam biti za hranu.

30 A svim zverima zemaljskim i svim pticama nebeskim i svemu što se miče na zemlji i u čemu ima duša živa, dao sam svu travu da jedu. I bi tako.

31 Tada pogleda Bog sve što je stvorio, i gle, dobro beše veoma. I bi veče i bi jutro, dan šesti.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8891

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8891. For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth and the sea. That this signifies the regeneration and vivification of those things which are in the internal and in the external man, is evident from the signification of “six days,” as being states of combat (of which (8888) just above, n. 8888), and when predicated of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, they signify His labor with man before he is regenerated (n. 8510); and from the signification of “heaven and earth,” as being the church or kingdom of the Lord in man, “heaven” in the internal man, and “earth” in the external man (n. 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535), thus the regenerate man, that is, one who has found the new life and has thus been made alive; and from the signification of “the sea,” as being the sensuous of man adhering to the corporeal (n. 8872).

[2] In this verse the subject treated of is the hallowing of the seventh day, or the institution of the Sabbath, and it is described by the words, “In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested in the seventh day; wherefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” They who do not think beyond the sense of the letter cannot believe otherwise than that the creation which is described in the first and second chapters of Genesis, is the creation of the universe, and that there were six days within which were created the heaven, the earth, the sea and all things which are therein, and finally man in the likeness of God. But who that takes into consideration the particulars of the description cannot see that the creation of the universe is not there meant; for such things are there described as may be known from common sense not to have been so; as that there were days before the sun and the moon, as well as light and darkness, and that herbage and trees sprang up; and yet that the light was furnished by these luminaries, and a distinction was made between the light and the darkness, and thus days were made.

[3] In what follows in the history there are also like things, which are hardly acknowledged to be possible by anyone who thinks interiorly, as that the woman was built from the rib of the man; also that two trees were set in paradise, of the fruit of one of which it was forbidden to eat; and that a serpent from one of them spoke with the wife of the man who had been the wisest of mortal creatures, and by his speech, which was from the mouth of the serpent, deceived them both; and that the whole human race, composed of so many millions, was in consequence condemned to hell. The moment that these and other such things in that history are thought of, they must needs appear paradoxical to those who entertain any doubt concerning the holiness of the Word, and must afterward lead them to deny the Divine therein. Nevertheless be it known that each and all things in that history, down to the smallest iota, are Divine, and contain within them arcana which before the angels in the heavens are plain as in clear day. The reason of this is that the angels do not see the sense of the Word according to the letter, but according to what is within, namely, what is spiritual and celestial, and within these, things Divine. When the first chapter of Genesis is read, the angels do not perceive any other creation than the new creation of man, which is called regeneration. This regeneration is described in that history; by paradise the wisdom of the man who has been created anew; by the two trees in the midst thereof, the two faculties of that man, namely, the will of good by the tree of life, and the understanding of truth by the tree of knowledge. And that it was forbidden to eat of this latter tree, was because the man who is regenerated, or created anew, must no longer be led by the understanding of truth, but by the will of good, and if otherwise, the new life within him perishes (see n. 202, 337, 2454, 2715, 3246, 3652, 4448, 5895, 5897, 7877, 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8690, 8701, 8722). Consequently by Adam, or man, and by Eve his wife, was there meant a new church, and by the eating of the tree of knowledge, the fall of that church from good to truth, consequently from love to the Lord and toward the neighbor to faith without these loves, and this by reasoning from their own intellectual, which reasoning is the serpent (see n. 195-197, 6398, 6399, 6949, 7293).

[4] From all this it is evident that the historic narrative of the creation and the first man, and of paradise, is a history so framed as to contain within it heavenly and Divine things, and this according to the received method in the Ancient Churches. This method of writing extended thence also to many who were outside of that Church, who in like manner devised histories and wrapped up arcana within them, as is plain from the writers of the most ancient times. For in the Ancient Churches it was known what such things as are in the world signified in heaven, nor to those people were events of so much importance as to be described; but the things which were of heaven. These latter things occupied their minds, for the reason that they thought more interiorly than men at this day, and thus had communication with angels, and therefore it was delightful to them to connect such things together. But they were led by the Lord to those things which should be held sacred in the churches, consequently such things were composed as were in full correspondence.

[5] From all this it can be seen what is meant by “heaven and earth” in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, namely, the church internal and external. That these are signified by “heaven and earth” is evident also from passages in the prophets, where mention is made of “a new heaven and a new earth,” by which a new church is meant (see n. 82, 1411, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535). From all this it is now plain that by, “In six days Jehovah made heaven and earth and the sea,” is signified the regeneration and vivification of those things which are in the internal and in the external man.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.